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Terror in the skies of Russia
Author(s) -
Poole Graeme
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geology today
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.188
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1365-2451
pISSN - 0266-6979
DOI - 10.1111/gto.12020
Subject(s) - meteor (satellite) , geology , atmosphere (unit) , meteoroid , meteorology , physical geography , archaeology , geography , astrobiology , physics
It was just another normal day for the residents of the Russian town of Chelyabinsk as they set off for work on Friday 15 February 2013. A rock less than 20 metres wide changed all that. A meteor weighing some 11 000 tonnes hit the Earth's atmosphere above the Ural Mountains with an estimated speed of 18 km/s (65 000 km/h). It exploded over Chelyabinsk with the force of 30 Hiroshima bombs, causing a shockwave to tear through the region and injuring over 1500 people. It was the biggest meteor strike in the last 100 years, and undoubtedly the most archived ever.